Author's Note: Hey there, thank you very much for the ongoing support. I hope you enjoy; reviews would be great!
Ba Sing Se, Lower Ring, 100 AC
Mori had just finished her last duties for today and walked over to Pao's tea shop, Iroh's and Zuko's workplace. Their shift would soon end as well, and so she could drink a nice cup of tea before walking home together. She really began to like the living in this city, even if it was sometimes peculiar.
When she turned around the last corner, she heard some noise from inside the tea shop and wondered what it might be. It almost sounded like fighting, but that couldn't be, could it? She heard Zuko's voice, he sounded angry and tense, "You want a show? I'll give you a show!", what was he doing, she asked herself. Did he have one of his foolish ideas again? Would he firebend and blow their covers along with their new rather comfortable lives into thin air? Mori fastened her step.
She heard swords cling, good, no bending for now, and wood being sliced and broken. Just as she reached for the door, it burst open, throwing her to the ground. She saw Zuko tumbling through the door and Jet storming behind him, clearly, they were fighting each other, Jet with his curved swords and Zuko had, however he got them, Dual Dao Swords. Confused Mori laid on the ground. Her head hurt and her vision was a bit blurry. The banished prince looked over to her, surprised to see Mori laying on the street, struggling to get up. She had a cut on her head that just began to bleed. For a moment he thus was distracted, and Jet almost got to him. The banished prince locked their swords in the last moment.
Mori heard Jet say, "You must be getting tired of using those swords. Why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?"
Iroh stood in the doorway of the tea shop and raised his voice, "Please, son, you're confused! You don't know what you're doing!", then he noticed his student at the ground. Quicker than most would give the old man credit for he knelt down beside her. His voice was almost a whisper, "Mori, what are you doing there? What happened to you?", his face showed his worries when he looked at the cut on her head.
Mori groaned, "Sifu, I heard the noise, so I came and wanted to open the door and well, …", she gestured towards her head. Iroh chuckled slightly and helped her up. She felt like the world was turning around her and she would probably throw up but stabilized herself leaning on Iroh's shoulder. Quickly she pulled her hair open, so none of the bystanders would notice the blood coming from the cut on her face.
Meanwhile the fight continued. By now both fighters had only one sword left. Jet smirked, "Bet you wish he'd help you out with a little fire blast right now."
To what Zuko answered, "You're the one who needs help.", Mori was impressed by Zuko's sword fighting skills. Not that she hadn't seen them before, but she herself had never had such an interest in swords, or weapons at all. To her, she herself was the only weapon she needed. Zuko cut the straw that Jet had always between his lips in half, the only reason it was not Jet's throat was that he was quick enough to bend backwards. Maybe it was due to her head injury, but Mori had to restrain herself from cheering for her childhood friend.
Jet jumped backwards on the edge of a well, regaining his balance. In a tone of utter madness he yelled, "You see that?! The Fire Nation is trying to silence me. It'll never happen.", afterwards he attacked Zuko again, and the teens continued to fight. It ended in a draw, neither one being able to break the other's defense and the fight was finally stopped by a Dai Li Agent, who commanded them to drop their weapons. Zuko immediately lowered his sword while Jet pointed at him and Iroh. "Arrest them! They're firebenders!"
Iroh stepped forward, leaving Mori standing a bit shakily. In his calm voice he said, "This poor boy is confused. We're just simple refugees."
Pao, the tea shop owner, made his way through the bystanders as well, "This young man wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employees!", as some of the customers also raised their voices, "It's true, sir. We saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city."
That caused Iroh to blush and laugh a little, "That's very sweet.", Mori smiled at her old master. While he had many positive qualities he was rarely praised and certainly enjoyed it. The Dai Li Agent then arrested a screaming and struggling Jet and put him into a metal wagon.
Worriedly Mori walked up to her companions. The world still turned around her from time to time and she ended up tripping. Zuko saw this from the corner of his eyes and quickly turned around and caught her before she could hit the floor again. Quickly he put her on her feet again. Feeling a bit dizzy she smiled at him. He smiled back, but then he noticed the blood running down her face from the cut on her head and his expression became worried.
Zuko exchanged a worried glance with his uncle before he picked Mori up and began carrying her home. She protested, "Hey, what are you doing? Put me down!", but the banished prince just raised an eyebrow at her, smirked slightly and shook his head, "Sorry, but I can't let you walk your way home like that.", and after a while Mori stopped protesting, but was still pouting until they came home.
Zuko was surprised how light-weighted she was. He had imagined it more difficult to carry her around, but it was easier than he thought. He tried to ignore her head resting on his shoulder, her hair touching his throat. He wondered if she could hear how fast his heart was beating.
At home he sat her down in her room and lit a fire in his palm. Zuko stroke back her curly black hair to examine the cut on her forehead. It didn't seem to be deep and stopped bleeding a while ago. Carefully he took a towel and some water and began to clean her face from the blood. Mori flinched when he touched the cut but let him continue.
After he was finished, he examined her head again. Apparently pleased with the outcome of his work he took her bedroll out of the closet and spread it on the floor. Blushing he looked up to her, "Uhm, do you think, you could undress yourself?", Mori smiled at him and nodded, but still gestured for him to help her up. This made them suddenly stand really close, the whole scene still lit only by the fire in his palm.
He wasn't sure of it, but in the dim light he could swear that she was blushing. Her voice was barely a whisper, "I think, I can do the rest on my own.", smiling at him. Zuko gulped, quickly he let go of her hands and wanted to walk back into the main room but was stopped by a hand grabbing his arm and turning him around, her voice was still more of a whisper, "Zuko, wait.", she made a step towards him, the small fire in his palm reflecting in her blue eyes, "Thank you, for carrying me home and … everything else.", she motioned towards the cut. Suddenly she made another step towards him, closing the distance in between them and put a light kiss on his lips.
Zuko was shocked, pleasantly shocked, but still. This was only because she hit her head, he thought. She probably was a bit out of it and didn't know what she was doing. Then again, should he take advantage of it? But what an impact would that have on their friendship if he took advantage of her in such a state? No, he shouldn't, he decided. She soon broke the kiss anyway and smiled at him. Blushing he quickly looked on the ground. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to look into those blue orbs now. He scratched the back of his neck, "Good Night, Mori.", was the only thing he could think of saying, before hastily stepping out of her room and closing the door just a little bit too quick. Still, he heard her say, "Sleep tight, Zuko.", as if he could sleep right now, he thought.
When his uncle came home, he asked how his student was. "I cleaned her face and examined the cut. It's not that deep, so, I think her dizziness will be gone tomorrow.", his uncle was pleased with that. When Zuko was alone he sat down for a moment and touched his lips, wondering if that kiss had been a sign of her having true feelings for him or just of her being hit by a door and being a bit out of it.
A few days later the cut was barely visible, just a light bit of skin that was visible only when the light hit it at the right angle. Iroh and Zuko were already working when Mori stepped on the market. A wide variety of people filled the place, all busy with various errands, as she was too. She didn't know why, but her mood was exceptionally good today. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and no clouds to be seen. The war was far away behind the thick walls of the city, or at least she thought so, and her life was beginning to become a routine.
Quickly she started her work. The merchant she was working for already grew very fond of her, she worked swiftly and thoroughly, hardly made she any mistakes. It was a bit after noon that she returned to his shop. She sat down her basket and handed him the money she earned as well as the goods she bought for him. It was then that she noticed a blue-clothed man in the back of the shop. Her eyes shot towards him, while her boss still examined the goods. His booming voice caught her attention again, as well as that of the blue-clothed man, "Very good, as always, Mori. My life certainly got easier since I employed you. Here, have your money for today. See you tomorrow."
The blue-clothed man looked after her as she picked up her basket and went out of the shop. She waited outside, just around the corner for him to leave it as well. He bought some things, a few bags of rice mainly. He turned around the corner and they stood in front of each other for a moment. Then both smiled, the Water Tribe man leaned the bags to the wall and hugged the girl. Mori hugged him back with a wide smile, she hadn't seen him in about eleven years. When they finally let go of each other she said, "Hello Bato, good to see you."
"Hey there, little firefly. Good to see you too, it has been a while.", he answered, still smiling as well. This made her remember that, even though, they had sent her away from the tribe, they all still loved her, especially her family. It had not been a decision of hatred to leave the five-years-old Mori on Earth Kingdom shores, but rather one of helplessness. She couldn't have stayed, a firebender in a Water Tribe village.
"What do you do here? Is father here too? How's everyone at home?", the questions just bubbled up, excitement and hope making her eyes glow from the inside.
Bato laughed at her, then he put a hand on her shoulder, "Yes, your father is also here. Our ships and camp are a bit out of the city at Chameleon Bay, which we're currently protecting from incoming Fire Nation ships. Why don't you help me to get these bags to camp and we talk about everything else on the train?"
Mori's smile widened, "Sure.", but then a thought shot through her head, "Can you take them to the train station by yourself? I've got to tell Lee and Mushi that I'll come home late.", Bato nodded, but raised an eyebrow at this. Who where these people? Anyway, the girl stormed off quickly, leaving the heavy bags with him. He sighed and tried to organize them, so he could lift them more comfortably.
Mori ran as fast as she could through the lower ring. Pao's tea shop was not that far away, but still considerably distanced from her working place. As she entered, she saw both of her companions behind the counter in their aprons. With an energized step she walked up to them, "Hey, you two.", she greeted them, smiling from ear to ear. Both were a little surprised to see her, but then smiled back. "I just wanted to stop by and tell you that I'll probably be home late today.", both men raised their eyebrows at her. Iroh thought, she might've encountered a good-looking young man and got herself a date, smiling at the thought. Zuko thought the same, but the thought angered him. He turned away from her, fists clenching in his pockets as jealousy washed over him. "I've met an old friend and he told me, my father is also around, so, I'm going to visit him.", she added, crumbling both men's thoughts unknowingly. Zuko felt ashamed for his jealousy.
Iroh was still very happy. He laid a hand on one of hers on the counter. "That's really good news, I'm sure he will be more than happy to finally see you again. Oh, by the way, Zuko's also going to be home late today.", the old man leaned over the counter and whispered in her ear, "He has a date tonight.", unnoticed by her Sifu Mori stiffened for a moment. Did she hear that right? Now it was her time to feel jealous. She straightened herself and shot the banished prince a glare. He picked it up but was rather surprised. It was so unlike for Mori to show something like anger. And what on earth did he do to deserve her wrath? She didn't leave him a chance to ask, hurrying out of the tea shop and towards the train station.
Bato already waited for her, the rice bags at his feet. She forced herself to smile at him, but he noticed her anger, nevertheless. "What happened?", he asked.
Mori shrugged her shoulders, "Ugh, it's nothing really. Boys my age just tend to be jerks like all the time."
The Water Tribe Warrior raised an eyebrow at her as she picked up half of the bags and carried them inside the train. "So, you're living with two guys your age? Your father won't be exactly pleased by this.", which caused her to raise an eyebrow at him as they both sat down on a bench.
"Don't worry, only one guy my age. Lee is Mushi's nephew. Mushi picked me up a while after you left me. He's older than any of you and a very wise and sympathetic character. Lee is like a lot of young men; he's searching for his way in life. After his father had thrown him out, Mushi started travelling with him. That led us to Ba Sing Se eventually. They are working at Pao's tea shop and I'm running errands for that merchant.", she didn't want to tell him anything further about her companions. It would certainly worry the warrior if she told him that she was travelling with the Fire Nation prince and his uncle. So, she kept it short and simple. The rest of the train ride they talked about what happened back at the South Pole since she was gone, how they ended up joining the war and that her siblings were travelling with the Avatar. She was surprised that Bato had met them, but their father did not. It must tear his heart apart, she thought. Not only were her siblings throwing themselves into danger, but he was also too far away to protect them from anything.
Finally, they arrived at the last train station. They had to carry the heavy bags a considerable way towards the camp still. Mori's heart stopped a beat when she saw the blue-sailed ships and the tents not far from them. Suddenly her heart began racing and she fastened her pace, causing Bato to chuckle at her. When she stepped into the camp everyone that was out of the tents stopped in their tracks for a moment, before realizing who the girl was. Then they stood up and each of them hugged her, two taking the rice bags from her.
Bato walked over to Hakoda's tent, the chief had been sitting in front of a map with several others, discussing their next actions when he had noticed the noise outside. So, when Bato arrived at the tent, the chief was already stepping out, wondering what was going on. Turning to his second-in-command he asked, "Bato, what is all this fuss about? Did you get the supplies?"
The warrior smiled at Hakoda, "Yes, and I also found someone to help me carry the bags home.", he gestured towards the gathering. Noticing their chief standing there, the small crowd parted. Hakoda heart stopped beating for a moment.
He stared at the girl. They had not seen each other in such a long time, a bit over eleven years, and she had changed a lot, growing from the five-years-old girl that he hugged one final time, both of them crying, into a now sixteen-years-old girl, almost a woman. But her eyes and her smile were still the same. He would recognize her out of thousands and thousands of girls. He made two slow steps towards her, tears in his eyes, and in hers as well if he saw that right. Then she ran up to him and they hugged each other as tightly as possible. She cried into his shoulder, and he heard her speak between the sobs, "Dad, I missed you so much."
He pressed his head into her curly hair, mumbling, "I missed you too, you can't imagine how worried I was.", they stood for a while like that, all the warriors around them.
After some time the small crowd dispersed as everyone returned to their duties. Mori and her father sat down in some distance to the camp, overlooking the bay. They talked about a lot of things, Hakoda was surprised when Mori told him that her being able to fish had saved her and her companion's life a few times, but then he smiled and pulled her closer to him. When he asked about her bending, she said, "Don't worry, I had a great teacher. But neither him or me are serving the Fire Nation.", she left it at that, and he didn't ask further. Firebenders that didn't comply with the Fire Nation were always a difficult thing, since they were most likely hunted down. It was better, if he didn't know too much until it was safe to talk about such things. Eventually their talk ended in a comfortable silence. They just sat next to each other for a while, Mori cuddled into her father's embrace, enjoying every minute. Her mind wandered a bit and ended up at the banished prince. Angrily she tried to wave the picture away, out of her head. That jerk should not ruin her reunion with her father that she had waited so long for.
Hakoda noticed his daughter's sudden irritation. He looked down onto her and raised a hand, stroking her cheek, "What angers you, little firefly?", he asked, both of them now bathed in the orange-golden light of the setting sun.
Mori looked on the ground, "It's noting, Dad, really. Just a disturbance."
Yes, they hadn't seen each other in years, but Hakoda raised an eyebrow at her, that was not everything there was. She noticed his gaze and sighed, "Fine, since you're not going to let this rest, it's about a boy, okay?", she said in an annoyed tone.
Hakoda smiled at her, "That Lee you're living with.", he felt her stiffen, "I thought so. You were travelling such a long time with them, and you talked so much about Mushi, yet Lee earned probably two sentences. I thought that you're angry with him. Why is that?"
Mori suddenly hugged her father tightly and sobbed. Oh my, he thought, let me guess, love problems? He began to stroke her back as she cried. "Don't you want to tell your old father about it? Maybe I can help you, or at least I could punch that guy if he hurts you.", this earned him a smile from his daughter, she giggled a bit between sobs.
Then she suddenly pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. Still sobbing a bit, she began to talk, "It's, it's just… I've had feelings for Lee for a long time. And over the last couple of weeks, I thought that he maybe had some too, I mean, I had hope that …", she stopped for a moment, letting her head fall into her hand and Hakoda saw her grimacing, she must feel really hurt, he thought, "Anyway, I guess I was fooled.", and at her father's questioning look, she added, "I'm not the only one coming home late tonight. Mushi told me that Lee would do so as well, because he has a date with some girl, he met at the stupid tea shop today."
Hakoda raised his eyebrows, so that was it, Mori was jealous. How could she not? She had travelled and lived with that guy for years, cared for their survival, tended to their needs and just when she thought that the relationship had a real chance this guy went on a date with a girl he met the same day. He pulled his daughter in his embrace again, "Sh, Mori, don't cry. I understand how you must feel but let me tell you something. It's just a first date, there's probably not much going to happen. He might even decide to never see that girl again, who knows. Also,", he cupped her face with his hands, blue eyes locking to each other, "Don't let your jealousy and anger get the better of you. He might act like a jerk now, but as long as you like him, try overcome it. Care for him like you did before, you told me you were friends for years, don't let it be destroyed because he invites some girl out for dinner. It might hurt now, but I think he'll come around over time. A lot of young men ran their heads against a wall, because they want to get through, and it takes a while for them to understand that they will rather break their skulls than the wall. Give him that time."
Mori raised an eyebrow at her father, she was suddenly reminded of Iroh's proverbs. "There's another thing I don't understand, Dad.", she said, looking at the ground, "How can Mushi be so oblivious to the whole thing. I mean, he has known both of us for such a long time…"
Hakoda thought for a moment, "Maybe he isn't as oblivious to it as you think, but I rather suspect that he still sees you as a child rather than a young woman with complicated feelings. Maybe the long time he's knowing you is exactly the issue.", he stood up and held a hand out for her, "And now you should probably head back into the city, before they close the gates.", she smiled at him, took the hand and they hugged tightly before she began making her way towards the train station.
On her way back she smiled. Meeting her father again had been good. She thought briefly about just staying with the warriors permanently. Talk, have fun and kick some Fire Nation soldiers from time to time. But she felt, she still had a duty to her Sifu. She couldn't let him alone with that moron of a nephew. She remembered her father's words. Mori wasn't sure she would be able to follow them though.
It was already dark when she got out of the train. There was a place she wanted to visit before returning home. She had seen it while running errands and heard stories about the well and the lights on and around it. Now that she was for once out late, she decided to pay it a visit and see if it really was that beautiful.
As she went around the corner she saw it, it really was breathtakingly beautiful. There were not only lights from the main part of the well and the streetlights, but also some lanterns swimming on the water. The beautiful picture shuttered when she saw the couple kissing in front of it. She was shocked for a moment. Her eyes widened and her mouth hand open. She felt tears burning on the rim of her eyes. Her fists clenched and she looked at the ground, anger plastered over her face. She heard her father in her head, "There's probably not much going to happen." As she quietly took a few steps back. Then she turned around and ran. She didn't care whereto. Just run, searching for an unknown destination. Tears streamed down her face; she wasn't aware of where she was running as her vision blurred from the tears. Deep down she knew, she was searching for danger, praying for someone to attack her so she could smack a few heads. She collapsed finally in a small park area. Out of breath she still cried, her hands clenching into the grass. Then she heard a voice, "Now, what do we have here. Hey guys, look at this. Seems like we're going to have some fun tonight."
As the owner of the voice turned her around and sat on her, holding her hand above her head she realized that she had no energy left to fight, nothing. Running for what felt like an eternity through the cold night air had consumed all of it. Still, she managed to get out a "Get off of me!", but the group of men that surrounded her just laughed at the pathetic attempt.
When Zuko came back to their apartment it was still lit. His uncle was working on something as the banished prince stormed through the main room. "How was your night, Prince Zuko?", the prince just went to his room and slammed the door shut, leaving Iroh confused.
The door opened a tiny bit and Zuko said, "It was nice.", in an almost whispering tone. Something occurred his mind, "Uncle, is Mori back already?"
Iroh raised an eyebrow, "Now that you're asking, no, she hasn't returned by now. I wonder if I should be worried already, I mean, she said she was going to be late, maybe she even decided to stay with her father."
Zuko for his part was extremely worried. Swiftly he opened the door to his room again and stormed out, at his uncle's questioning look he said, "And maybe she hit her head again and is laying somewhere in the gutter."
The lower ring was terribly huge. Zuko hadn't fully realized that before. Now that he was roaming it by now in search of his friend, he was worried that he might not only not find her but would get lost himself. He had no clear destination, not a clue where she was, what her way had been, where her father was located. Maybe Iroh was right, and she just stayed the night at her father's. Still, he had a feeling that something was wrong. He couldn't explain why, but he almost felt sick.
Then he heard a noise. It sounded like a woman screaming in agony, but being muffled somehow, for example by someone holding her mouth closed with his hand. Although he had never heard Mori scream like this, he was sure that it was her voice. He ran as fast as he could towards it. The banished prince saw a tiny park area, now he could also hear other voices, men's voices, some seemingly drunk. He entered the park and stopped for a moment at the scene. About half a dozen men stood around, all with a bad flickering in their eyes as another man held Mori's hands to the ground, above her head. Another man, obviously the leader of the small group sat on her, a little bit below her hips, so she couldn't use her legs that much. He held her mouth closed with one of his hands as she struggled beneath him. Her clothing was in disarray, some pieces even ripped apart, her upper body laying more or less bare for everyone to see and her curly hair flowing openly around her.
Zuko snapped back into action when the man tried to undo his belt. Pure anger filled his mind and blurred his vision a bit. He heard the man say, "Stop struggling so much, whore. The more you struggle, the more it's going to hurt."
The prince couldn't take it any longer, he yelled at them as loud as he could, "Get off of her! Now!"
The group leader turned his head slightly and laughed sarcastically at him, "Get lost scum! It's not the right moment to play the knight in shining armor. Find yourself a girl. This one is ours."
Zuko was done talking with this drunk and sprung into action. He began fighting with all of them at once, which was easier than he thought it would be, since they apparently all were at least a bit tipsy. When he knocked the group leader and the guy holding her hands off of Mori she cried out and rolled to the side, which distracted Zuko for a bit. The group leader got up and pulled out a curved dagger. The prince saw the attack but was a moment too slow and the blade hit his tunic. The slash on his body was not deep, but bleeding. With an angry grunt Zuko kicked the dagger out of the man's hand and kicked him in the chest in the same movement.
Most of his opponents were bleeding by now and began to flee back into the city. Once the last one was out of sight he stood there, breathing heavily, for a few moments. Then he heard an almost silent crying and hurried over to his friend. Mori laid on the grass, shivering and crying, curled up into a fetal position. Zuko knelt down behind her back, carefully he tried to lay a hand on her shoulder, but she shrieked away, crying louder. Helplessly he sat beside her, his voice raspy and shaking a bit, "Mori! Mori, it's me, Zuko. These guys are gone, everything is going to be alright.", slowly the crying subsided and Zuko was able to turn her on her back. She glanced at him; her eyes still filled with tears. In the moonlight he saw that her skin was showing dark bruises, that her lip was split and that a fear was etched into her features that he never seen at her.
Her breathing was still fast, but it calmed down with each moment. She grabbed his hand and held it close. Zuko flinched a bit, he never realized that she was quite strong for a woman. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, the ripped fabric of her robe, shirt and bindings falling off, but Mori didn't seem to care. Still clenching to his hand, she threw herself at him, grabbing the fabric of his robe and started to cry and shake violently. In this moment Zuko felt incredibly helpless. The only thing he could think of was to enclose her body in his arms. "Zuko", she whispered between sobs.
He ran a hand through her hair, trying to calm her down, "Shh, don't worry, they're gone."
But Mori shook her head, "Zuko, it's all my fault. My fault and that of my own stupid jealousy.", she sobbed.
The banished prince did not understand a bit of what his friend was saying. He cupped her face with one hand and turned it up to look into his eyes, "Mori, none of that is your fault. You did nothing to make these guys attack you. Don't you dare suggest that."
She shook her head again, "You don't understand, Zuko. I was almost home when I decided to visit that stupid well. I heard about how beautiful it is at night when all the lanterns are lighted. And then I saw, I saw…", she began crying again, clenching into his robe. Suddenly he understood what she must've seen. Him, she had seen him, and Jin. He hugged her tighter, so, it was not only him being jealous, not only him having feelings for her, not only theater.
"Mori,", he whispered into her hair, "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I, if I, gosh, that date wasn't even my idea in the first place. Mori, please forgive me.", he was by now almost crying himself. How could he have been so blind? How could his uncle be so blind?
"Zuko", he heard her whisper from beneath his chin, "Zuko, it's not your fault, there is nothing to forgive. I decided to run away, run until I collapsed. Zuko, I searched for danger, I wanted somebody to attack me, so I could smack a few heads, but when I was attacked, I had no energy left to fight. Zuko, if it wasn't for you, they would have …", she pressed her face into his robe as he pulled her closer.
"Shh, don't think about it. They're gone now and they have not.", suddenly he noticed that she was still shivering. The night air was pretty cold, even to him who wore all of his clothing, she must be freezing. Quickly he pulled back from the hug, removed his robe and wrapped it around her. Then he hugged her again, using his firebending to raise his own body temperature. She had gasped at his sudden action but now she cuddled into his embrace. Soon she stopped shivering and looked up to him. When he saw her smile, his heart skipped a beat. He put his forehead against hers. "Mori, I … I was jealous too, today. When you said you were coming home late, I assumed that you had a date too, and until you said you were going to visit your father I was boiling inside.", he blushed a little, "You can't imagine how silly I felt when you explained that.", it earned him a silent little laughter that rattled through her body.
Suddenly he felt her stiffen, he looked into her blue eyes searching for the reason. Her voice was still barely more than a whisper, "Wait a minute, does this mean, you actually like me too?"
For a moment he said nothing, then he laughed, short, but he couldn't help it. "Like you? Mori, I fell for you years ago, when we were still back home. And after you returned the feelings returned too. I just thought you would never take me. What would I with my foolish ideas have on me that would make you feel the same way? All the while I was falling for you over and over again, body and soul."
There it was again, the feeling that she might just turn and laugh at him. That she might not feel the same way, even after she admitted being jealous. And she did laugh, while he felt his heart sink, but then she put an arm around his neck and her hand on the back of his head, pulling their foreheads together again. "Sorry that I'm laughing, it's just, I had a very similar thought. I thought, why would a prince want me? I'm nothing like a princess, gosh, I'm not even Fire Nation. How could you even consider me? That your uncle didn't think of me as a 'lady friend' didn't exactly help either. You can't imagine how chaotic my feelings have been, especially with that whole fiancé thing. I felt like I was a ship in the midst of a storm with no control at all of where I'm going. All that I knew was that there were these feelings inside me, that I fell for you, body and soul."
Then she put a hand on his scar and pulling him down slowly and softly until their lips touched. They had kissed before, but it still felt like the first one to both of them, since now they were sure, that it was not theater, not just caused by dizziness after receiving a blow to the head. Zuko pulled her even closer, lifting her off the ground. As softly as it had begun, they broke the kiss, she smiled at him, her blue eyes shimmering in the moonlight. Her hand still lingered on his scar, and she let out happy little sigh, "Zuko".
He smiled down at her, never had she seen him smile that happy. He pulled her closer towards him, breathing into her hair, "Mori". They stayed like this for a few minutes. Clenching on each other, afraid to let the moment go. Suddenly they both realized how late it was. Zuko looked down on her, still smiling, "We should probably head home now, uncle will be worried sick. Can you walk?"
Mori thought about it for a moment, "Hm, I'm not sure. Maybe it would be better if some knight in shining armor would come by and carry me home.", earning her a chuckle from the banished prince, while he picked her up.
It wasn't until they reached the apartment's doorstep that Zuko sat her down for a moment to open the door. Despite it being already early morning, the lights were still on, so his uncle was indeed waiting for them. As he had opened the lock Mori stood up to walk inside, but he swiftly picked her up again. He silenced her protests, speaking in an unusual playful tone, "You said, you wanted to be carried home, so, I carry you all the way.", causing her to laugh whole-heartedly.
Iroh sat in the main room. He raised an eyebrow at the door when the lock was opened, but for a few moments nobody entered. Then he heard the voices of his nephew and student and smiled. So, he really found her. The old man thanked the spirits that he didn't need to go search for two teenagers. That Zuko was carrying Mori surprised him almost as much as that she wore Zuko's robe. She also looked beaten up and his knuckles were also red, red as they get when you hit somebody.
He coughed, catching the attention of the teens. Zuko wanted to speak first, but Mori was quicker, "Sifu," she began, while the banished prince sat her back on her feet, "I'm sorry that I caused you worry. When I was on my way back from my father, a group of men attacked me. I was way too tired, and they were too many, so they had the upper hand. Luckily, Zuko found me just in time to save me.", she turned towards his nephew and hugged him. The prince was apparently surprised at her actions but hugged her back and smiled. Iroh watched astonished. He hadn't seen such a happy smile on his nephew's face since he was banished.
Contently he smiled at both of them before pulling both teens into a tight hug. "I'm just glad that you both returned safely. I was already worried that I would have to go out and search for two teenagers lost in Ba Sing Se. But don't you think it's a little bit late?", all three of them laughed at that.
A little later the former general was putting out the lights in the apartment when he noticed Zuko standing in front of Mori's door. She was leaning in the doorframe and smiling at him as they wished each other a good night. Iroh smiled at them but stopped for a moment in his tracks when they kissed. Apparently there had been something going on and he didn't notice, not even suspect it. Maybe I get old, the Dragon of the West thought.